A New Beginning
by AD100
Summary: A newbie mercenary, Emilia Percival, found herself trapped in with a boy named Cyruss. Now, stuck together as partners, the two must work together as members of Little Wing.
1. Chapter 1

**1st Universe: I**

**Part 1**

"Open up! Will ya? Ugh, come on! Let me out of here!"  
A young girl cried as she banged her fist against the steel door.  
"Is this any way to treat somebody? I know you can hear me! Open this tin can up!"  
But once it became clear no one was coming to save her she gave up hope and sat in front of the door holding her knees close to her chest.

"I told him we should go home. But did he listen, no?"  
A white puff of air escaped her mouth.  
Then she noticed, standing at the center of the hall.

A boy with his back to her.  
The boy had pale skin and long unkempt hair with a long torn up coat that hung over his shoulders.  
She only knew this because his arm was clearly out of the sleeve as he toyed with a device over his right ear.  
With a stern expression, the girl marched towards the boy staring off in the distance.

"Um, hello!"

With a sigh, the boy turned around to face the girl with a cold expressionless face and uncaring machine-like eyes.  
The air around him was colder than anywhere else in the room.  
But the temperature was the last thing on her mind as she glared back at him.

"I'm having a crisis over here. Maybe you want to try not ignoring me? Most people, when they see a girl in trouble they try to find out what's wrong."  
The boy briefly scanned the girl pouting in front of him before turning around and spoke with an uncaring tone.

"You seem fine."

"Oooh... Chelsea always says tears are a girl's best weapon. So much for that theory." The girl bitterly mumbled under her breath.

The boy didn't pay her too much mind as he was busy with his own devices.

"...I guess we have more important things to figure out right now. Talk isn't gonna get us out of here. And I don't suppose we're any better off being trapped together... Any idea what all the fuss was about?"

"No idea-"

"Yeah... me neither. It all happened so fast. Next thing I knew, the place was empty..."

The girl let out a sigh.

"What are we gonna do?"

As if on cue, the door in front of them opened. After a moment of silence, the boy started moving towards the doorway.  
Then he felt a weight drag on him. He reared his head to see a hand wrapped around his wrist and a girl staring up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about actually going deeper into this place?! Are you crazy? This is a RELIC site. Who knows what could be down here?"  
The boy pulled himself out of her grip and continued to make his way towards the door.

"Not so fast!" The girl ran out in front of him.

"If you run off by yourself you could end up dead-or worse!"

He didn't respond.  
He just stared blankly back at her for a brief second before walking passed her.

"Argh, Fine! If you're going, I'm coming too!"

The boy turned around- momentarily stunned by the sight in front of him the girl staring back at him with wide warm-coloured eyes.  
Words of someone he knew flashed in his mind, like an image.  
-[I will stay with you until the end]-  
His heart wavered as he shifted his eyes away from the girl and spoke in a harsh tone.

"Fine. But if you're coming along, you will do as I say. That is if you want to live."

"Alright. Yeah. I'll follow you... Er, I don't think I caught your name."

"...Cyruss."  
He reluctantly mumbled out his name,

" Cyruss, Huh? Haha, I never woulda guessed."  
The girl smiled as she extended her hand.  
"Well, Cyruss, nice to meet you. I'm Emilia. Emilia Percival."

The boy looked down at her hand with a puzzled expression.

"Huh? Is something wrong?"

The girl asked.

"No, it's... nothing. Nice to meet you. Emilia."

The boy shook her hand.

"Like it or not, we're in this together."

She said.

**Part 2**

Leaving the current sector they moved down to the floor below them.  
The sound of high pitched roars filled the halls accompanied by the sound of slick and wet sounding footsteps slapping rapidly across the stone floor.  
"This place is crawling. Figures. And why do I get the feeling they aren't going to let us through."

Emilia quietly complained as they hid behind some rubble.

Cyruss had identified their enemies as "Evil sharks."  
Reptilian creatures that usually travel in small groups to hunt for their next meal but- by the sound of it, this wasn't just one small hunting group.

They had made this part of the relic site their territory. And with the entire site active, they seem more riled up for some reason. Meaning, if they were caught, every monster in the area would be on them. And it would be game over.

"Move forward in caution... No gunfire or No technics.

We move quickly and take them out before they could make a sound. Got it?"  
He turned to her awaiting a response but she silently looked away with her hand gripping her sleeve.

"What is it?"

"Umm, There's something I should probably tell you...  
You see, I may be armed but- I haven't been in all that many fights... None to be exact."

'Ugh?!' The boy's face stiffened up from hearing that.  
As this not only restricted their options, it also meant if things went bad he'd have to protect her from potentially dozens of monsters roaming the floor.

But- he figured it was his fault for not asking her skillset ahead of time.  
The girl looked back at him with a smile after getting that out.  
"So, good luck! I've got your back." She softly cheered.

He let out a sigh as something like a wand appeared in his left hand.  
"Alright... Nothing changes. Just follow me and keep your voice down. Don't move unless I say so."

The boy peeked out from behind the rubble and waved the wand into the air.  
Five small lights slowly rise in the air, fluttering like flower petals drifting in the wind.

"Visualizing the targets... and... Strike!"  
Following his softly spoken command, the lights quickly turned into sharp nails that cut through the air piercing the reptilians' scaly chest for an instant kill. Rushing forward with the petals he summoned a large, two-bladed saber in his right hand and with cold-blooded efficiency finished off the remaining two before they could even tell who attacked them.

Without looking back at their hiding spot he gestured with his hand telling her to stay close behind.

If they lingered for too long they'd surely be found out.

As dumb as they are, they would notice if a group of them went silent in their territory.

This operation wouldn't be so risky with a party of four decent fighters, and a cakewalk for the number of teams that showed up to scout the place.  
But the cards didn't fall that way, so there was no use in thinking about it.

What he needed to focus on was escorting the girl to safety as soon as possible. Once she's safe then he can decide what to do next.

Because of the creatures' cold-blood, they were difficult to detect, rendering his visor almost completely useless.

Thus he only had his senses to rely on to discern the enemy's positions. Fortunately, they made a lot of noise, making it easy to tell when there were a lot more than he could take.

Following close behind Emilia watched as he continued to take out small groups with cards, small laser-like projectiles, used by those with a high [TEC] grade.

[TEC] measures a person's ability to utilize photons, an energy source that serves as the heart of Gurhal's civilization...

Newmans are naturally gifted with high [TEC], but most of them focus that power towards mastering TECHNICs, a catalytic reaction between one's spirit and photon energy.

To put it simply, If photons are the oxygen, their [TEC], or rather their spirit would be the match, and the resulting flame would be the TECHNIC.

Cards work similarly, but they are a bit more like bullets projected by, the gun, the photon generator within the wand. Once launched the shooter's [TEC] grade determines the power of these "bullets."

"I think we're safe for now. We should catch our breath while we have the chance."

The leader said, however, he would keep moving if he had a choice.  
Cards are difficult to use even for the Newmen, with each throw having a high possibility of failing to kill its target instantly.  
The risk alone had him completely drained, as he had been gambling with a life.  
In short, it wasn't good for his heart.

"You really are a mercenary."  
The follower sounded amazed.  
"I gotta admit, I'm relieved. With you around, maybe I'll actually get out of here."

"...I have to ask. If you've never fought, why are you here? This isn't a place a beginner should be running around."

"Hey! It's not like I wanted to come into this death trap! I'm only here because my boss made me! Says, I'm lazy."

Boss? Who would hire someone with no experience? He wondered.  
The only reasons he could come up with were that she owed him some huge dept.

"How irresponsible..."

"Right?! Finally, someone who understands... Okay, so I can be a little picky about work some times, I get it. And it's been a while since I did any... But-"

The boy raised a brow as he turned his head.  
His thoughts remained the same: [How irresponsible].

"Hey! What's that look for?"  
She turned away with her arms folded.

"Whatever. With your help. I should be able to make it out of here in one piece. Then he'll get a real earful! '_The SEED are gone' _he says. _'The relic site is completely safe' _he says... Yeah right."

Relic sites- Now that she mentioned it, something bothered her. A question they have been neglecting to ask.

Why did this place activate?

"Have any relic sites ever gone active when the SEED wasn't attacking? Well, maybe some have, I suppose. It's kinda hard to say for sure. I've heard the relic sites react to the elementary particles emitted by the SEED. But does that explain the disruptions observed in the magnetic field? Hardly. In any case, the last of the SEED was driven out three years ago, but that didn't stop this place from activating. So if this whole site is run by some master program, it follows there must be some sort of trigger...Or, uh... yeah. Something like that."

She turned back to the boy staring at her with a dopey dumbfounded expression. It took him about 4 seconds to process what she had said and all he got out of her tangent was that: "the SEED couldn't have been the cause. Therefore, something else must have triggered it..."  
When he thinks of it like that, it should be obvious.

But what he found strange at how familiar she seemed with this topic. As if it were something she knew at the top of her head, prompting him to ask the question-

"Uh, are you some kind of expert?"

She seemed more surprised by his question than he did about what she just said.  
"Who? Me? That's all common knowledge."

"Really..."  
The boy remarked with a raised brow.  
The girl scowled in annoyance.

"Look, ask any mercenary you want. They'll tell you the same thing- Just forget I said anything... No one ever believes me anyway."

The girl went back to pouting as she turned her back away from him.

"Actually- I do."

Emilia felt her heart stop by those simple words.  
She turned her head to him expecting him to laugh at her, and say something like "Just kidding," but he just stared at her with a straight face.

"Really? You do?"

"Is there a reason I wouldn't? I don't believe you'd lie to me for no reason. So, if you know something I don't, I want to hear it."  
If he doubted anything it would be the fact what she said was common knowledge, but even then, he couldn't argue something he wasn't certain about, so all he could do was believe in her.

"You...? Um, Well...I "

This wasn't something she expected, so she didn't know how she should react and she started stumbling over her words.  
Her face felt warm as she shook her head and stood back up.

"Argh! This isn't really the time or place. Let's hurry up and get out of here!"

Without thinking, she wandered off into the next sector on her own.

"Just who is this kid?" He wondered, scratching his head.

**Part 3**

For a while, the next sector seemed empty. With no monsters roaming around, but that's what kept them on edge.

Why hadn't the Evil sharks come down here? What could have warded them off?

Deeper and deep down the rabbit hole they went. A stinging sensation passed through the girl's head. The walls seemed to be closing in... She grabbed at her throat. Her body felt as though it was slowly losing air the longer she stays down there. It was as though she were suffocating beneath the ocean floor.

The dormant statues surrounding them didn't help matters either.

"How much of this place do we have to search before we find a way out." She complained.

"All these machines around here-they're the site's automated defences. I feel like they're watching me. What if they went live...? Argh, how much longer until we find a way out of here?!"

A shockwave shook the ground as the eyes of the surrounding statues came to life. beetle-like creatures, as well as sword-wielding giants, surrounded the two.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

The girl immediately regretted opening her mouth.

It was as though the universe had conspired to make her life difficult at every turn.

Her body trembled as the sentinels walked towards them. There chances of beating them all were low... and Cyruss seemed to agree. "Come on!"

He shouted as he grabbed her by the hand and ran through an opening and down the hall until they noticed a door slowly closing in on them.

They ran towards the door, as a growing crowd of machines chase after them... The boy muttered something under his breath bitterly. His cold hand suddenly became gradually warmer as they picked up speed before leaping through the closing metal door.

The two sprawled on the floor as the door closed shut.

"Sorry-Are you alright?"

Cyruss asked the out of breath girl as helped her to her feet.

"Y-yeah, I think so. Thanks. I thought we were dead..."

She sighed in relief as she dusted herself off.

"Where are we?"

They looked around, the room seemed fancier than others with enormous stone pillars scattered across the empty room. They seemed to be giant pipes that diverted water throughout the Relic site.

But what really caught their attention was a large door at the end of the hall...

Since the door behind them lead to a hallway filled with mechanical monsters, this was the only way out.

And if they were lucky it would be an exit.

"This door! This HAS to be an exit, right?!"

Before he could respond, the girl had already run-up to the terminal.

"Emilia!"

Appearing, seemingly from out of nowhere. An iron giant, a steel axe arcs down towards the girl.

A scream rang through the hall.

A large stream of red spills across the floor.

A body flies through the air and slides along the ground.

"Huh? I'm alive?"

A sense of relief passed through her body.

"Cy-"

Then, her heart stopped.

The boy sat slumped forward with his back to a red-stained pillar. The relief in the girl's heart was replaced with a sharp, heavy feeling. Before she had even realized it she was running towards the boy.

For the boy, the room was dark. A burning sensation filled his chest... His mind racing with a single question that threatened to drive him mad: Is she okay?

Then it went still as the sound of footsteps approached him. There were a few seconds of silence as the girl tried to process the sight in front of her.

"Why? Why did you-?" A sob filled the girl's throat.

This should have been her.

So, why was he the one-? Why would he?

Her voice was all he could hear, a voice that quelled his worries.

"I'm so glad" Were the words lost within his final breath.

A peaceful smile formed on his face as his eyes slowly shut.

For him, this was the only choice.

"H-hey! Get up!-"

The girl desperately shook his lifeless body.

"Why aren't you getting up? Come on! At least open your eyes!"

Tears slowly started to form in the girl's eyes as she continues to shake the smiling boy.

She was all alone again - abandoned even by him. It wasn't fair.

"No, I won't let you leave me like this. You have to wake up! Please! Don't leave me alone!"

She cried harder than ever before, unaware of the death that slowly crept up behind her.

She held onto him.

Denying what she knew, refusing to accept the reality in front of her.

This was all just a [Nightmare.]

"Someone help! Somebody has to help me! Please-" The girl prayed with all her heart room to anyone whoever may hear.

"Don't leave me alone-"

[You are never alone.]

A brilliant light filled the room dissolving the iron giant. The girl lost consciousness. She put a hand on the boy's chest and a yellow light entered his body.

The fatal wounds quickly healed, yet slower than she had thought.

Almost as though something was hindering the process, regardless it would eventually heal. The unconscious young man moaned in pain, his smile from before completely vanished.

"I'm sorry."

She said with a forlorn expression.

But there was no time for regrets, she needed him. She needed to escort the two of them out.

"We'll talk later."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 0

He walked aimlessly a dark road.

As he passed by thousands of hands reaching out, feebly tugging on him.

His hair and skin gradually faded to an ash-like shade, as holes started burned into his coat while everything behind him turned to dust in the wind.

No matter the source. No matter the vessel.

The heart will continue to seek joy.

But what does he expect to find by moving backwards?

Part 1

When he finally awoke, he found himself resting on a couch in an unfamiliar office room.

"Huh- Argh!"

As he tried to get up, he felt a sharp pain rise up from his stomach. Immediately, with his eyes shut, he clutched over his mouth to stop whatever was coming up from escaping.

He detected faint traces of something metallic he identified as blood.

"Gah-! ugh..."

He forced it back down his throat into his nauseated stomach.

Where am I? What happened? He gasped for air as these questions only continued to pile in his mind.

At a certain point, his memories seemed to jumble together to form something like a hazy wall that assaults his mind.

"Argh!"

He grabbed the sides of his head.

"Oui. Oui. Non. It was kind of you to offer. Next time, yes?"

Instinctively, he slowly turned his head towards the approaching synthetic voice. Entering the room was a CAST wearing a white dress with a somewhat daring slit.

"Oh! You 'ave awakened! One moment, if you please."

With a hand cupped around her mouth, she called out to the other room.

"Monsieur boss! Monsieur boss! Our guest has gotten up! Perhaps you can get it up too?" Cyruss forced himself to his feet and hobbled over to the CAST.

"Welcome to Little Wing. I am Chelsea. Enchante."

"Where is this place?"

"Do not worry. I assure you, we are a reputable business."

She replied before calling out once more.

"Monsieur Boss! Monsieur Boss! Our guest is awake."

"Hang on, I'm talking to someone here!" A man shouted from the other room, his voice still audible as he took a call. "Hey, it's me. I need you to get your butt down here. I don't care if you wanna come! Spoiled brat!"

"Seems like he's busy."

He said with discomfort in his voice.

"Oh my. I suppose it is I who will explain. This is Clad 6. It is a resort colony. And you are in the offices of Little Wing. We are a civilian firm, yes? Monsieur Boss brought you here. You were asleep all this time. Like a baby. So peaceful!"

He slowly backed away from the strange CAST when he noticed a man enter the room.

"Feelin' any better? You look like someone spit in your soup. Maybe I should fill you in on what's goin' on."

"Going on?"

"Hmm, where to start? My name is Kraz Muehler. This little mercenary outfit I got goin' here is called Little Wing. More of a private security firm, really, but Mercenary outfit has a better ring to it. We do private security for big shots with deep pockets, run patrols around factories. That sorta thing."

"I see..."

He said with an uncaring demeanour. As it didn't seem relevant to him, he didn't care all that much. But he let the man continue, expecting him to get to the _why_ he's here.

"We were down at that RELIC site to scout the place when all hell broke loose. So instead of a nice scouting mission. I ended up rescuing the idiots who got trapped inside, One of those idiots was you. Trouble was, you weren't carrying any ID. I couldn't exactly leave you how I found you, so here you are."

"Hold on-"

He recalled it.

Being trapped down in the relic site, with-

"What happened to that girl I was with?!"

A small devious smile briefly formed on the man's lips.

"Worried about her, are ya?"

She was under his protection, if something were to happen to her, then all the blame should naturally go to him. He thought.

Ring~

There was a sudden chime at the door behind them.

"Well, It's about time. Get yourself in here."

The doors slid open and a young girl entered the room with her head hanging slightly.

"Give it a rest, boss. Today is not the day for this. Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"Don't know, don't care. Save your whining for someone who does. Can't you see we have company? Show some manners."

"Oh, sorry. Nice to meet-" She trailed off as the boy stared back at her with a widened expression.

"Wait a minute- you look familiar."

The two stared at each other for a second. The boy let out a short breath, his face relaxed as he confirmed her safety... Then-

She let out a scream.

"What?! What are you doing here?!"

The sickly boy grasped onto the sides of his head.

"I thought- I mean- Shouldn't you be dead?"

"Luckily, that's not up to you to decide. I swear the things that come out of that mouth of yours." The older man in a purple coat sighed as he shook his head.

"You might have told me. This is how I find out?" She noticed Cyruss looking at her with his head tilted.

"Uh, not that I'm not glad you're okay."

"After I blacked out, I don't remember anything until waking up here...

I must have dreamed the whole thing. Phew, talk about a load off!"

She reasoned. There was nothing else it could be.

When someone is killed they're dead, that's that. Even if that were the case, the boy in front of her would have surely said something.

"So you two are already acquainted. Good. You seem to get along well enough. That should make this easier."

"Make what easier?"

Kraz ignored Emilia as he turned to the scruffy young man.

"You're freelance, right? Well, not anymore. You're with us now."

"Whoa, where'd that come from?"

Emilia said surprised by this sudden decision on the opposite side was Cyruss himself, who silently listened, with an almost bored look.

"Quiet, I wasn't talking to you."

"We aren't a big company, but someone with your experience, we'd sign you on with a full bonus package. I'll even throw in a partner. She's not much, but she's better than nothing."

"How unusually generous of you."

"I'm talking about you, knucklehead."

"Me?!"

"What do you say? No entrance exam, free partner- that's more than a fair-"

With an immediate monotonous voice, he answered.

"Not interested."

Though, Kraz didn't seem fazed by his response and met the boy's cold stare with a smile.

"I understand. That's a lot to have sprung on you all at once. Nobody's forcing you... Of course, if you decline, I'll have to charge you for bringing you here and guarding you until you woke up."

"Grr, fine. How much?"

"I figure, oh, a million meseta ought to about cover it."

The boy nearly choked at the absurd request.

"You're pure evil, you know." Emilia glared at the man.

"So what'll it be? Heh, listen to me. As though you had any choice. I went ahead and took the liberty of preparing some quarters for you. Don't just stand there, Emilia! Escort your new partner to their quarters. You two play nice, hear?"

"Wait, boss! Don't I get a say in who my partner is?"

"If you'd rather work solo, that could be arranged."

"That's... not what I meant."

"Then save your complaints for when you're actually ready to do some work on your own. Understood?"

"Ugh... All right you win. I'll be waiting outside the living quarters." And Emilia left the room defeated.

"That girl has more lip on her than brains. Orders aren't up for debate."

"Monsieur Boss is too hard on the girl. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar" Said Chelsea.

"If she worked more like a bee, maybe she'd deserve some honey." Kraz turned to Cyruss.

"What do you think? Am I too hard on her?"

"...You could cut her some slack... I think"

He said, only paying half attention to their conversation as he toyed with his own devices.

"So, I'm just supposed to let her get away with murder? What do I look like, good ol' Uncle Chump?"

"..."

"Wait, you didn't think the two of us were related, did you? Ha, that's a good one! Let me go ahead and set the record straight right here and now. Her and me aren't related in any way, shape, or form. I'm her boss, she's my employee-end of story."

"What a thing to say! You are the girl's guardian!"

His ear's perked at this statement.

"Her guardian?"

"I took the two of you in to settle a bar tab."

"You were the only one who keeps coming until the bar goes out of business. Truly, I am grateful for all you have done for us."

"This is getting us nowhere. Listen, we're not related, all right? But technically, I am her legal guardian. And that's the only reason I keep her lazy, back-talking carcass around."

"It's not her fault. There are so many new things at first. There are so many new things at first, no?"

"I don't want to get into a whole thing about the girl's past. Frankly, I don't care. As for you, your only job is to keep Emilia out of trouble. Keep her safe. If you can get her to where she actually pulls her own weight around here, even better... How you do it is up to you. Don't let me down."

"Keep Emilia safe... Understood."

With that said, the boss left the room leaving only Chelsea and Cyruss once more.

"Monsieur Boss has a sharp tongue, but Emilia is a good girl. Be nice to her, and I am happy. Emilia is happy. We are all happy."

"Keep Emilia happy... Understood."

Chelsea smiled at his response.

"Now, Emilia is waiting for you outside the living quarters. Don't keep a lady waiting."

\- Part 2-

I should have asked for directions to the living quarters, but with only 4 places to go, I only needed to explore a little.

Each section seemed to have its own colour, with the exception of the offices, which was a bit grander in appearance with decorative plants on both sides of the door and a glass plaque engraved with the Little Wing logo along with some text.

Fortunately, each section is labelled with a large bright sign over each section. a cafe along with two Shopping centers. Which just leaves the one section without a sign.

As I walk towards the green arch I feel a bit of a drag slowing me down. As I walk the area seems to grow on forever. I don't want to go, but I don't have a choice in the matter... It's not as though I have anywhere to run off to.

And there's that girl.

...I never thought I'd be in this position again... I'm responsible for this kid. She's a strange one... I don't think she's a bad kid, but-

I can't understand any of this...

Why me? Why do I have to be stuck with her?

It almost feels like I'm being punished.

In front of the faintly glowing green gate was a little girl dressed in red from head to toe. With her eyes, half-open she struggled to stand as her consciousness drifted in and out...

"Emilia?"

Suddenly Cyruss was standing in front of her, appearing out of nowhere. Her entire body shook as she jolted back to reality.

"Ah! Well, it's about time!" She scowled.

"Can we get this over with? I need some shut-eye!"

He wordlessly followed the drowsy girl to for him the room prepped for him. The room was small and simple with nothing but the basic necessities such as a bed and a bathroom.

Along with a visiphone, as the name suggests, it is a kind of Visual Phone, basically, a home comm that could record data input into it.

"That's everything, I think. The important stuff, anyway. Take a look around yourself..." She yawned. "Now I seriously have to get to bed. I'm asleep on my feet."

She plopped down on the bed.

"Uh..." He stared down at the girl lying snug on the bed.

"What a strange kid..."

He took a deep sigh.

"I guess it's been a long day..."

Although sick to the stomach, he dragged himself around the room to check the things Emilia didn't bother explaining. One thing was the storage box. Inside was some basic equipment such as a saber, a gun, and some medicine.

Nothing that would be useful to him.

There was another area they missed, a door on the right to the entrance.

"Wait, it should be safe for us to speak."

He turned around.

Standing behind him was Emilia with her eyes half-closed, with golden markings etched to her skin from head to toe ending with a circular mark hidden behind her hair.

But what caught his attention was the golden-haired woman floating behind her moving his partner like a puppet on a string.

"Emilia!"

Without a second of thought, he summoned a single saber into his hand. A saber with carrying two blades, both raised towards the puppetmaster.

"W-wait! She's was exhausted, but now she sleeps. Do not worry, she will awaken soon. I am only borrowing her for a short time while she rests. I do not have long, but it will be enough. Please, listen to what I have to say."

He stared up at the figure threateningly... but that was all he could do. Seeing as he could see through the figure itself. In theory, he couldn't attack it even if he wanted - without attacking Emilia herself.

That itself wasn't an option.

As he didn't have much of a choice, he let out a deep sigh as the object in his hand dissipates. The woman continued to speak.

"I am Mika, an entity of pure consciousness. I have chosen this girl as my vessel. The form you see before you is a product of technology lost long ago. The people of your time call it the technology of the ancients, which would make me an ancient. In the distant past, my people lived in this system. We were the first."

"An... ancient..?"

Although skeptical, he decided it would be better not to argue with what was in front of him.

"I have studied Emilia's memories to learn about your time. Three years ago, a great calamity befell the Gurhal System."

"The seed..."

He gritted his teeth as soon as she mentioned them. His boiling blood turned his white skin red. The mysterious alien race that invaded three years ago, in an attack that killed millions. Just thinking about that time drove him mad, like he could kill someone.

He was certain there was not a single person who hated the seed as much as he had... Though this was probably a common thought.

"But this was not their first attack. They came in my time, as well. It was the height of our civilization. The SEED invasion pushed us to the brink of ruin. The battle was long, but in the end, we triumphed, banishing the SEED and their leader, Dark Falz. But victory came too late. The planets of our system were already tainted by the Seed. Not even our bodies were spared. The taint of the Seed left nothing untouched. It was only a matter of time before our system and all who lived here would perish."

If what she was saying was true, they were fortunate they drove it back when they did. But that isn't to say that the system they knew didn't receive their fair share of scars.

"So the Ancients risked everything on a grand venture that would span the ages: Project Renaissance."

_Project Renaissance?_

"First, we purified the Gurhal system of the Seed, restoring the planets to their former glory. Next, we created a new race of men and loosed them on the pristine worlds. Finally, the Ancients shed their tainted flesh and became beings of thought. Our work done, we passed into sleep. We slept, and waited-waited for the day our children would rise as we had, that we might steal their bodies for our own."

"?!"

His entire body tensed up, but he managed to restrain himself from doing something drastic.

"As time passed, all went according to plan. The civilization of the men we created grew and prospered. Their technology advanced until finally, they unlocked the secrets that would lead them to our place of slumber. The new race of men-humans-are our children. The Gurhal System has fallen into the trap laid so long ago by the Ancients."

The ancients had planned their evolution from the start.

But what exactly was she referring to when she said "Trap."

Of course, this could only be something the ancients have discovered themselves.

This train of thought led him to believe that this has to be related to something found within the RELIC sites.

"I know you must find this hard to believe but it is the truth. And I ask for your help to stop this dreadful plan from happening. The one you call Emilia will not hear me. Her heart and mind are closed."

She was right. He had no reason to believe her. It would be so much easier to deny her and say he's finally gone off the deep end. but= there was one thing he needed to know.

"Why do you want to stop this plan? Aren't you an ancient? Why save humanity?" He asked with a lifeless tone.

"Though I am an Ancient, I have no desire to be reborn in this time. Our destruction was our fate. Our time has passed."

"And did you just expect me to trust you?"

"...I have no proof, and my powers of persuasion are poor. Even so, I have chosen to talk to you... You and I aren't the strangers you might think."

He felt a sharp pain rise up from his stomach. It's telling him to run and hide. His mind is racing- he knows that once he hears her out, there is no possible way of turning back.

"What do you mean?"

"Ask yourself: Why can we talk as we do? What bond do we share? When the automaton attacked you in the relic site, was it real? Are you even alive?"

_[Cover your ears. Don't listen to her.]_

"What she said was true?"

"Yes. The automaton destroyed your flesh. You knew true death. It was Emilia's wish that activated my program and allowed me to reconstruct your broken body."

"E-Emilia's Wish?"

His thoughts came to a sudden thought. The room before him twists. It's like his body is trying to reject something dangerous from his mind. Something it cannot comprehend.

"Even now we-"

Mika was interrupted by a sudden yawn from the girl in front of her.

"She will awaken. You and I will speak again."

"Huh?"

Before he knew it the woman had disappeared as the girl let out one another yawn.

"Guess I dozed off there," she said with her head to the floor.

"Um, why are you staring at me?"

"Mi-ka?"

Despite only being a few seconds ago, it felt like a dream.

"Who's Mika? I thought we already did the introduction thing. I'm Emilia, remember? Emilia Percival. Great, a partner who doesn't know my name."

"Sorry, I guess I nodded off myself."

He laughed nervously.

"Riiight... let's just forget about this. We've still gotta check out your ship."

"...My...ship?"

Part 3

They returned to the atrium and walked straight towards the teleportation platform in the middle of the room. The warp pad took them directly into a ship. The ship is as small as you'd expect it to be, enough to travel with a small team.

"This is the ship we'll use for work. She's company property, so take good care of her." Emilia continued to explain each of the functions of the ship as best she could. "Basically, you use the ship to take you to whatever location the mission calls for."

Her new partner on the other hand.

"Are you even listening?"

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at my forehead the whole time we've been talking. Do I have something stuck up there?"

"It's nothing, sorry I'm just a little tired..."

He said with an obviously forced smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Here's my partner card."

Cyruss stared down blankly at the card in her hand. When partner cards are exchanged, the two allies become connected, that is to say, it provides a quick and easy means of contacting one another.

In a way, exchanging cards with someone is a way of saying.

"You can count on me." Is what he heard... Though, he never really kept exchanged a lot of them. And the few he did have was no longer in use.

"That's that. Oh, and let's not forget who's in charge here. I have been with the company longer after all."

His face twitched in irritation.

"Sure, whatever."

It's hardly worth arguing over, he thought.

"Ugh! You're not making this easy! ...Forget it... Just treat me the way you have been and we should get along fine."

"Hmm..." He relaxed his face.

"All right. I suppose I can do that..."

"Phew, Talk about a full day. I'm tired already..."

"As far as bad days go, I guess it wasn't all bad- I-..."

He tried to think of something good that happened but came up empty. First, he got trapped in a RELIC site with a kid. Got strong-armed into working as said kid's private bodyguard. Then, an Ancient spirit appears asking him for his help...

"Scratch that... this world has a sick sense of humour..."

He didn't say it aloud, but he couldn't exactly hide the disgust on his face.

"Well, no need to get into all that again, I guess the main thing is that we're both safe." Both of them must have thought about the same thing, as a sudden silence filled the room.

Cyruss, he couldn't even begin to understand why he was saved.

Why he had survived- Out of the millions who have died, Why was he still alive? Nor could he understand how this kid could make such a wish.

But-

"Um... about that."

His sombre thoughts were disrupted by the girl's timid voice.

"Hmm, I'm not sure how I should say this... If it wasn't for you, I'd still be trapped in that relic site. But more than that, You believed me. In my dream that is."

She smiled.

"Real or not, it made me happy."

It was odd, for him to hear something so sentimental coming out of her mouth. But- something about it lifted him up.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! You think spilling my guts like this is easy."

He covered his mouth trying to hold in his laughter.

"Pffft... S-sorry!"

"All right, that's it! I think you've heard enough about me for one day. Next time, you're in the hot seat." She pointed at him with a playful smile. "We're partners now. We have to get to know each other!"

...

Maybe this wasn't a punishment after all.

What if, this was a second chance?


	3. Chapter 3

He stared out of the window, overlooking the three planets from his room, he couldn't think of anything besides the incident that brought him here.

Once, he wanted to be seen as a hero, but more than anything, he just wanted to see everyone happy.  
It pained him to see otherwise, and so, he worked his hardest to prevent others from feeling pain.

Stupid, He thought.  
Thinking of that now was pointless.  
But even so, he couldn't stop his mind from thinking.  
In the current situation, that would be impossible.

He, yet again, found himself responsible for another.

It seemed he was fated to play the role of a "guardian" to the end.

Was it fate? Or curse.

His previous partner, although naive, was still a reliable person who made his job easier.

It was only when she was gone that he realized how much he relied on her.  
And any accomplishments he achieved up till then, he attributed them to her.

Somehow, he can't imagine Emilia being the same.  
Compared to his previous partner, she seemed to be the exact opposite.  
Meaning, she would only bring him more trouble.

And to make things more complicated, there was that ancient, Mika.

Emilia was quick to pass it off as a delusion along with their adventure in the RELIC site.  
He understood shrugging off the ancient since he wanted to do the same.  
After all, he knew better than anyone that he can't be a hero.

But there was no denying a fact that both of them seemed to remember...

"I died. I really died!"

He unconsciously gritted his teeth. His body burns up at the thought.  
There's no reason he should have been brought back.  
Out of the millions of people to die, why was he saved?  
The one who couldn't care less about their own life.

She said it was because Emilia wished for it that the Ancient was able to save him.  
But that only confused him and infuriated him even more.

"Why?"

What makes him worthy of being saved? The question repeated.

Even in his time as a 'hero', he could never save even a single person.

"What a selfish wish." He muttered those words without thinking.  
He didn't know if they directed were towards him, or the girl who seems to think only of herself.

But it made his laugh sadly.

(Days later)

[Mission Failed]

Is what would be their report if they reported on open missions.  
They're much more relaxed than official assignments or client requests.  
They were mostly using them to get accustomed to the fighting and working as a team.

It being their 4th time out, it's safe to say there was no progress in adapting to their situation.

Lazily, Cyruss lied back in his seat as they returned to Little Wing.

Ring!

The visiphone rang behind him from where his partner was.

"Blech. This isn't going to be good news." Emilia softly complained under her breath as she took the call.  
Though he hadn't turned around, he heard the muffled complaints from his seat.  
He pictured his partner half-heartedly nodding along to the angry caller.

"Uh-huh... he told me he paid for his tab this month-  
Well, that may be true, but- Okay, I understand. I'll give him the message."

The call ended, and she let out a long sigh.

He spun his chair around and asked.

"So, who was that for?"

"The boss, who else?" She turned her chair to face him.  
"Half the calls we get are from bars trying to get him to pay up. It gets old really fast.  
He says I don't work enough, but most days he's off in some bar by noon."

For some reason, he wanted to apologize but didn't know what for so he stayed silent.

"I'm not saying he has to work dawn to dusk, but he could put in an honest day's work every now and then. Some guardian, eh?"

The ship finally docked.

"Well, better head down to the office and give him the message."  
She said with her head still hung as she moves painfully slow towards the transporter, like a prisoner before an execution.

Before reaching the exit, she stopped and turned back to him, her head still hung.

"You wouldn't mind coming with me to see the boss, would you?  
...My stomach does flips just thinking about it."

From his point of view, she was shivering slightly, dreading what he assumed would be a common occurrence.  
Probably because she already knew how this would go.

Saying yes would be like stepping into a battle he knows they couldn't win-  
But looking at her helpless face, he found himself unable to refuse.

He sighed and answered with a soft smile.  
"Sure."

Emilia raised her head and returned the smile,  
"Thanks."

Even though she was still nervous, just having him beside her took some of the load off.  
The two of them exited the ship and, from the atrium, proceeded towards the office area.

When they got there, the receptionist, the one who should be watching the entrance and welcoming visitors, had their attention elsewhere.  
Curious, Emilia's eyes followed Chelsea's gaze to the television on the side of the room.

_"After two years of construction, a ceremony was held last month to celebrate the completion of a new subspace generator on Parum."_

It seemed she was watching a news broadcast.  
No. That wasn't it. The look on her face seemed as if she were expecting something.  
Cyruss raised a confused brow at the mention of a subspace generator.

_"Natsume Shu, spokesperson for Inhelt Corporation and the genius behind subspace theory, was on hand to kick things off. He was joined by military officials and an endless parade of industry giants."_

A proper looking man appeared on the screen.  
He had white hair that made him look older than he was, but looking at him closely, he was probably in his 40's or 50's.

_"Hopes are high that this new facility will lead to breakthroughs in subspace research.  
If all goes well, manned subspace flight may just be around the corner.  
This research could be the key to solving Gurhal's current natural resource problems."_

The cheerful newscaster closed with her usual outro and...

"Zut Alors! The news is over already? How can this be?"

...Chelsea was a little upset.

"What's the deal?" Emilia asked the oddly fuming cast.

"They said nothing about Skyclad! After all the money we spend on the subspace program-out name should be in lights!"

"Y'know It won't do much to help business around here-we're just a subsidiary," Emilia replied with her usual pessimistic tone.  
"-But we're not here to talk about PR. Is the boss around?"

"Monsieur Kraz was just saying he wanted to see the two of you. I see the news, and completely forget." Like a switch was flipped, Chelsea returned to her usual self as if nothing happened. In a way, it amazed Cyruss, who was silently watching a safe distance behind his partner.

"Don't worry about it. So he's inside, huh?"

"Since you're going to see him anyway, could you take him this?" Chelsea handed Emilia a small slip of paper.

"A receipt from... Red Velvet Lingerie, Dagora City? That doesn't sound like much of a business expense."

"The head office agrees with you. They will not reimburse it. Tell him it will be coming out of his own pocket." Chelsea said with a smile.  
On the opposite end of the table, Emilia's face scrunched up.

"That dirty old-no wonder he can't afford to pay his bar tabs! What's he thinking?" She complained.

"Take it up with him. Complaints are not my department!"

Shaking off his confused expression Cyruss followed Emilia to the boss's office.  
Emilia barged in the room with the receipt in hand.

"We need to talk- pew wee!"

The room was filled with the unbearable musty scent of alcohol.  
Without a can in sight, the smell could have only been coming from the man himself.

"Are you drinking it or bathing in it?"

"Oh, there you are." He half-heartedly greeted.

"Don't 'there you are' me! You got another call from a bar asking you to pay up!  
And would you care to explain this?" She flashed the piece of paper in his face.

"One of my receipts. What are you doing with that?"

"You didn't think they'd let you expense this, did you?  
Have you drowned all of your common sense?"

"That's completely legit. You gotta lay the groundwork before you close the deal.  
Now, if you don't mind, we have business to discuss." Kraz momentarily stared at them and smiled.  
"Cheer up. It's the perfect job for the two of you. This is an urgent, top-of-the-action-item-list sort of job.  
There's somebody we need to track down."

"A missing person search?"

This would be their first real job together, and something as important-sounding as this was enough to pique both of their interest.

"Who is it? A witness in a murder trial? Some corporate bigwig?"  
Emilia's expectations seemed almost unreal, but her guesses were getting her partner excited.

"Not quite. It's someone I loaned money to a while back.  
And you're going to collect."

At that moment, their hopes were dashed.

"Wait, this job's for you? Go find him yourself!"

"Just can it, you! Because someone here botched up a job at a certain relic site, we can't get any real work!"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Defeated. Emilia fell silent, and Kraz began to explain their assignment.

"Your target is one Wurley Kokov. Male beast, age fifty-one." Kraz placed the man's photo on the desk. "His ship's been sighted in the Crodog region of Moatoob. No city, no casinos... It's the last place I'd expect him to be."

The way Kraz put it, it seemed more like they were solving a mystery rather than going to collect a debt.

"If you know where he is, why don't you just find him yourself?" Emilia muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" She turned to her partner.  
"C'mon, let's get out of here before the fumes start getting to us!"

Saying this she quickly left.  
But as Cyruss was about to leave...

"Can't believe they won't let me expense this-"  
He turned around to see Kraz holding the receipt.  
"And there are still three more comin'."

When he noticed Cyruss still standing in front of him, he hastily put the paper down and shouted.

"Hey, what're you lookin' at? Get to work!"

As he left, he decided it would be best to forget about what he heard.  
His partner doesn't need to know about that.  
After making preparations, they made their way to Moatoob.

"Where does he get off? Do we LOOK like his personal bill collectors to you?"

The mission took them to a broken looking forest, with tower-like rock formations surrounded by bottomless cliffs that looked like massive cracks on the planet.  
They found a clearing where they could land.  
It was the obvious place to land as there were several other ships already resting there.

They stepped out of their ships and looked around.  
From the ground, the place looked like an endless forest with trees that towered over them.  
You never would have guessed the cliffs were so nearby.

"How are we going to find Wurley out here...? Not that we should be doing Kraz's dirty work for him in the first place."  
Emilia sulked. He didn't like it any more than her, but with his debt, he wasn't in the position to complain.  
"As if expensing lingerie wasn't bad enough, now he's using the company to run errands. Someone needs to set him straight."

"I guess I'll have to give it a try sometime." He said with a half-hearted bitter tone.

"I won't stop you, but don't expect much. I've tried talking to him-it's like reasoning with a brick wall." She lowered her head, "I dunno... Maybe that's just because it was coming from me. If that's how it is, that's how it is. As far as Kraz is concerned, I'm only taking up space. I just want him to show me a little more respect. Is that so much to ask?"

A tear escaped her eye.  
She was on the verge of crying.  
She was crying, and he didn't know what to do.

"If that's what you want, why don't we just finish this mission?"  
He said the first thing he thought of.

"You think that'll change his mind about me?"

He couldn't answer honestly, because he didn't know for sure.  
But the effort couldn't hurt, and at the very least he couldn't call her lazy if she were working.

"I don't even like doing these investigations, much less fighting."  
She brushed away the tears from her eyes.  
That much was true, she was still a kid, without any sort of training, beyond failed practice missions.

As he expected, he was going to have to pick up her slack.  
At least if he didn't want to see her cry.

"Sorry, got off on a little rant there.  
If we don't track down this Wurley guy, we'll never hear the end of it."

"You-what are you doing here?"

A small figure appeared from behind one of the ships.  
From a glance, one would mistake him for a child.  
He stared at the two of them with suspicion.

"You don't look like the kind of people who go around visiting cultural heritage sites."

"We're looking for someone," Emilia explained plainly.  
"Did something happen here? Why are there so many ships?"

"We just got here ourselves. We haven't had much time to look around. So far, it looks like we're the only people here."

"No luck, Tonio. This place is dead. You do any better?"  
A girl of similar height ran up behind him. "Oh, you found someone."

"But not who we were expecting. They're here on their own manhunt."

"Who's that?" Emilia asked.

"I guess we skipped the introductions, huh? We're mercenaries. Name's Tonnio Rhima."

"And I'm Liina Rhima. My husband and I work together."

"We work for a company named Little Wing. I'm Emilia, and this is my partner."  
Cyruss watches with a raised brow as his partner introduced them to the two beastlings.  
"You're looking for someone too?"

"We were hired to patrol the heritage sites," Tonnio explained.

"Heritage site?"

Tonnio's face froze for a brief moment. He shook his head.  
"Wait wait wait. You mean you came here without even knowing what this place was?"

"Lighten up, I'm new at this!" Emilia retorted. "If this is some kind of heritage site, where are all the tourists? There are certainly enough ships to go around..."

"You've got good instincts, at least."

Emilia smiled at the compliment.

"Something definitely feels wrong here." Liina moved the conversation along with an uneasy expression.  
"The wildlife is acting strange, too. Out for blood. There must be something going on inside the site. I'm sure of it."

"We aren't going to figure out what it is standing around. The answers are in there."  
Tonnio looked at the two of them with a grin. "We all seem to be headed the same way. Why not go together?"

As much as he would have liked to refuse.. He looked at Emilia.  
He knew that Tonnio alone had more skill than the two of them combined,  
and if the wildlife was in a bloodthirst, he couldn't trust himself to protect her alone.

He let out a sigh.  
"Sure, All right,"

"All right, let's do this." Tonnio smiled.

"We should start by heading to the Kasch village. Maybe we'll find a clue to what's going on." Liina suggested.

"You know how to get there?" Emilia asked.

"The Kasch are nomads, but they leave markings so their friends can find where they've gone.  
The marking are written in the Kasch language, but I've studied it. Follow the markings and we'll be there in no time."

Following Liina's advice, they went deeper into the forest in search of the Kasch village in search of answers.

"I wonder what these markings look like..." Emilia mumbled to herself.


End file.
